Officials Move Closer To Delisting Yellowstone Grizzlies

Wildlife officials have moved one step closer to removing the Yellowstone grizzly population from the Endangered Species Act by approving a future conservation strategy.

The Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee voted to approve the conservation strategy, sending it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of what has been a months-long process to potentially remove the Yellowstone grizzly from federal protection, The Cody Enterprise reported.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed lifting the federal protections for the Yellowstone bears in March. Grizzly bears were first listed as threatened in 1975 when the Yellowstone population was estimated to have as few as 136 bears. Recent estimates say the population is now above 700.

Delisting the Yellowstone bears would give more management responsibility to Montana, Wyoming and Idaho and open the door for potential hunting seasons.

"This is huge," said Park County commissioner Lee Livingston, who is also president of the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association.

Not everyone was on board with delisting the bears. Dan Wenk, superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, voted against the conservation strategy and Leander Watson of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe abstained.

Tribal leaders have opposed delisting because the grizzly is considered sacred in some religions and also because hunting will be an element of the states' management program.

David Quammen talks about the history, animals, and land use conflicts related to Yellowstone National Park and reads a passage from the May issue of National Geographic Magazine.

The May 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine is devoted entirely to America's first national park: Yellowstone. It's more than just a park. It's a place where, 140 years ago, we began to negotiate a peace treaty with the wild. David Quammen tells the story of the park in a four-part essay. He is the only author to write the entire narrative for an entire issue of National Geographic Magazine.

State wildlife officials believe a grizzly bear is responsible for an attack on a man outside Whitefish yesterday evening. The man was walking with his adult daughter and two dogs on F.H. Stoltze property in the Haskill Basin area when they unknowingly separated a sow from her two cubs.

Yesterday we learned that legendary Montana wildlife biologist John Craighead died one month after celebrating his 100th birthday with family and friends. He passed on Sunday at his home outside Missoula. Craighead did pioneering work in and around Yellowstone National Park with his twin brother Frank, who died in 2001.

The grizzly bear is Montana’s state mammal, famous for its size, strength and intelligence. Grizzlies have been hunted for centuries by first peoples to obtain mythic power and by farmers and ranchers to protect livestock. In large swaths of the U.S., market hunters exterminated the great bear for its fur. With the grizzly off the endangered species list, should Montana allow trophy hunting? Dan Vermillion, chair of Montana's Fish & Wildlife Commission, joins us to discus on this episode of "Home Ground Radio."